The invention relates to an armoured car with front wheel drive, which has a vehicle hull or body, a turret with gun, and a front revolving magazine positioned in a vicinity of the gun on a bottom of the turret platform for upright inserted, large calibre ammunition.
Nowadays, scarcely any problems are caused in connection with supplying a weapon of an armoured car with small calibre ammunition. This small calibre ammunition is lined up, e.g. on belts, transported, which can be conveyed and deflected in random directions by corresponding guides. The belts form both the holders and the transportation means for the ammunition. However, due to weight and size, large calibre ammunition cannot be conveyed by using belts. Thus, with large caliber ammunition it has largely been necessary to manually transport and load the gun, i.e. use has had to be made of manpower. Quite apart from the physical strain, this generally also requires a corresponding free space within the armoured vehicle and in addition there are human errors which cannot be avoided.
Therefore numerous attempts have been made to store large calibre ammunition within the vehicle or car. Thus, for example, it is known to house large calibre ammunition in the rear of the vehicle turret in such a way that via an index position it can be automatically transferred into the weapon. As a result of the restricted space in the gun turret, only a limited supply of ammunition can be stored there. Moreover the turret magazine must be manually filled from the vehicle hull or from the outside.
It is also known (German Pat. No. 36 27 042) to arrange on the turret platform below the gun turret a rotary or revolving magazine in the form of a pitch circle-like loop and to provide a loading mechanism in a vicinity of the gun which receives the ammunition housed in standing manner in the magazine and bring the same, via corresponding movement sequence, into the gun barrel bore axis. This revolving magazine makes it possible to store a large amount of ammunition in the vicinity of the gun, as well as an automatic removal and transfer of the ammunition at the gun. However, this revolving or rotary magazine must also be manually refilled from the rear of the vehicle and each individual magazine position must be separately occupied with a round.
The aim underlying the present invention essentially resides in providing an armoured vehicle of the aforementioned type with a mechanized and largely automatic ammunition flow within the armoured vehicle and with maximum ammunition storage capabilities.
In accordance with advantageous features of the invention on the bottom of the vehicle hull behind the front, turret-side revolving magazine is positioned a hull-side revolving magazine receiving the ammunition in upright position and largely filling the rear vehicle space and between the two revolving magazines is provided a transfer mechanism occupying empty positions at the front revolving magazine from the rear revolving magazine.
The invention makes use of the fact that with armoured cars with front wheel drive, the hull is largely free from components behind the gun. According to the invention use is made of this free space as a correspondingly large ammunition storage in that on the bottom of the vehicle or car hull is provided a rear, hull-side revolving magazine, which can receive a larger amount of ammunition and from which the ammunition can be transferred by the transfer mechanism into the turret-side revolving magazine. The latter can be controlled in such manner that after each shot or after a few shots the empty positions are moved into the vicinity of the transfer mechanism, where they are again occupied with new ammunition from the hull-side revolving magazine, so that the turret-side revolving magazine always contains sufficient ammunition for a combat function.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the hull-side revolving magazine has a plurality of smaller magazine units, which are interchangeably placed in the revolving magazine and driven in such a way that, in conjunction with the driving movement of the hull-side revolving magazine, each position of the magazine unit can be moved into the movement path of the transfer mechanism.
This inventive measure makes it possible to simply resupply with ammunition the hull-side revolving magazine. The large calibre ammunition can be made available in the small magazine units, introduced into the vehicle and inserted in the hull-side revolving magazine. This permits a rapid and simple resupplying with ammunition of the hull-side revolving magazine. The revolving magazine can obviously be also individually resupplied with ammunition.
According to a further advantageous development, the hull-side revolving magazine is constructed in circular manner with a central drive and has on a circle a plurality of rotary receptacles for in each case one magazine unit.
Thus, according to this embodiment, the rear revolving magazine is constructed in the manner of a large turntable and this in turn carries several smaller magazine units in the form of turntables. The driving movements of both the revolving magazine and the magazine units are circular movements which can be particularly easily realized from the drive standpoint.
To ensure even better space utilization, in the vicinity of the periphery of the circular, hull-side revolving magazine and between the rotary receptacles for in each case one magazine unit, individual receptacles are provided for in each case one shell, which are arranged on the same circle as the magazine unit shell located closest to the periphery.
Preferably, each magazine unit is constructed as a pallet on which the rounds are arranged in circular upright manner. Each magazine unit has a transport holder permitting problem-free handling from the munitions factory to the armoured car.
Appropriately in the vicinity of the rear of the vehicle is provided a loading door or flap, the hull-side revolving magazine having a holding position in the vicinity of the loading door or flap. The latter can either be opened to the rear or top, so that the magazine units can be introduced from the rear or top into the vehicle hull and can be inserted into the revolving magazine.
According to another advantageous embodiment, the transfer mechanism comprises a transfer arm mounted on a vertical shaft with at least one gripper for a shell, and the transfer arm can be pivoted between a reception position on the hull-side revolving magazine and a delivery position on the turret-side revolving magazine.
The two revolving magazines are preferably arranged in such a way that their outer movement paths are approximately in contact at one point, so that in this manner the maximum amount of ammunition can be stored. In the vicinity of the maximum approximation of the revolving magazines is preferably arranged the transfer mechanism, so that the transfer of the ammunition from the hull-side into the turret-side revolving magazine takes place over the shortest path with the minimum time requirement.
The transfer arm can be arranged on a vertical column having the shaft and fixed to the vehicle hull. The transfer arm can also be fixed to a sliding carriage having a shaft and which is horizontally displaceable between a hull-side and the turret-side revolving magazine on a guide on the vehicle hull, preferably the side wall thereof. The latter construction is advantageous if the two revolving magazines cannot be brought too close together as a result of the space conditions or the space needed for the crew and, consequently, a larger transfer path must be bridged.
Advantageously the two revolving magazines and the transfer mechanism are so linked by a control that, on entering an empty position on the turret-side revolving magazine in the delivery position of the transfer mechanism, there is always an occupied position on the hull-side revolving magazine in the reception position. This permits a delay-free refilling with ammunition of the front revolving magazine.
According to the aforementioned known proposal (German Pat. No. 36 27 042), the front revolving magazine can be provided with different types of large calibre ammunition, e.g. explosive ammunition or incendiary ammunition. In this case, according to the invention, the hull-side revolving magazine has magazine units with correspondingly varied ammunition, so that the turret-side revolving magazine can be supplied, as desired, with one or other ammunition type.
It is advantageous if the different types of ammunition and/or the magazine units receiving them are provided with sensors indicating the ammunition type, the control system having means for inserting the desired ammunition type from the hull-side revolving magazine at an empty position of the turret-side revolving magazine. This makes it possible to refill the turret-side revolving magazine from the hull-side revolving magazine, as a function of the ammunition fired.
The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter relative to two embodiments and the attached drawings.